Child prodigy highlights the need for better support for gifted students in India

With India still struggling to provide all its children with basic formal education, support for gifted students tends to be seen as a second priority.

Not only are programs competing for resources, it can be a challenge to identify gifted children in such a large and diverse country.

At first glance, 13-year-old Sushma Verma seems no different from any other child her age.

She loves riding her bicycle, watching movies and playing with friends.

But remarkably, Sushma finished high school at the age of seven and graduated university at the age of 13.

She’s now enrolled in a master's degree in microbiology.

"The first time they look at me (they) ask questions, many questions, about how did I do this? How many hours did you study?" Sushma said.

"The first time I felt a little uncomfortable, but then it becomes normal sitting with my elder classmates."

"The first time they look at me (they) ask questions, many questions, about how did I do this? How many hours did you study?"

13-year-old Sushma Verma

The teenager lives with her family in Lucknow, the capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, in a cramped single-room apartment.

Even though the same amount of girls and boys attend primary school, girls are discouraged from continuing their education in rural India, opting to work and provide support for their family, or get married.

But Sushma’s father was determined for his daughter to receive a good education, pledging a small landholding and taking out loans to pay for it.

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